This buzzy, bohemian city in the former East has the genuine feel of Berlin’s Mitte in the years after the fall of the Wall. So many of the old deserted warehouses and factories have been taken over by a young rainbow coalition of every conceivable stripe, all somehow rubbing together with gusto and good-natured tolerance. Top of the list is the SPINNEREI (spinnerei.de), once the largest cotton mill in Central Europe, now home to over 100 ateliers – designers, artists, film-makers, writers, photographers, architects and musicians. Get there for a look at the future before over-gentrification threatens to kill the vibe.